2006 DVC Member Cruise - SSMC06 - October 22, 2006

[WDWLVR]

Hi Scott - nice to see you again! Many of us were on cloud 9 on Saturday morning! Sorry that you and Lynn won't be joining us for this cruise but hopefully our paths will cross again!


Janet - I'm not sure if DVC will have anything planned the night before the cruise or not. They did last year but that doesn't mean they will this year.

Either way we'll try and organize a night before DIS meet for those staying in the WDW area.

I'm going to try and find time to call MS today to make our before and after cruise reservations.

 

[cgcw]

Okay if you get there before the lot opens, you line up and wait in the employee lot. After that you get out of your car then chit chat, a green car near us from IL was playing Hey Baby and other disney tunes - then you hear and see people going you get in line and then you find out - oops false start and you loop around again and get in line again. Then you hang out some more and finally they let you in.

I remember that!! And the thing was too, if you came in late, you had no idea where the actual back of the line was. It was kind of crazy. I do know that Amy & Chris were the first DIS'ers we saw, then Mark & Mary, then Cheryl & Todd. And, JohnVN was the one who decided he was the end of the line and let us get in before him.

Gee, and we thought we could just pull right into the lot, way in front of all of you. If you get there early, don't think forget to look across the street to see the line of cars waiting in ront of you. We thought we would just turn left into the lot, not realizing there was already a line across the street.

Look....here are Amy & Chris.

And Mark & Mary.

I didn't know you well enough to take a picture of you and Todd, Cheryl, in the parking lot (now I do ) I have no idea who the ballerina you are standing next to might be. But, I did catch you in this one.

 

[cgcw]

We took the bus from the resorts to Port Canaveral and back. We were glad that we did not have a car at Port Canaveral since we were deverted to Port Everglades because of weather at Port Canaveral. There were a lot of people who had to travel back to Port Canaveral then onto Disney. We were bused from Port Everglades right back to Disney.

We split up our family to get back to WDW. I took the kids and we went directly to WDW -- on Dan's clean bus. Gary took the bus up to Port Canaveral to pick up the rental car. By the time Gary got to the resort, we had checked in and the kids were swimming. Once he arrived, we were ready to hit the parks. Worked out really well. That is for a back up plan.

 

[cgcw]

Congrats to all who got a stateroom for this cruise, you will have a great time for sure.

I saw Mary (ILUNDISNEY) later that Sat Morning, she was on cloud nine, and able to take a breath. We were very happy for her, her elation was evident.

Booking a member cruise and WDW in the same day. I can only imagine. No wonder they were on cloud 9!!!

Hi Scott.

 

[cgcw]

Wowzers you guys are chatty!!
I can't seem how to figure out how to add the logo to my signature. Im so techanically inept.
Also, how do you respond so quickly.
Is there a refresh button or something.

Debbie, you need to add the cruise logo to your signature. You need to go to the top left, where it says "user CP". In there is an option to change signature. Copy the logo from Mark & Mary's site, add it to your signature with a

before and after. Good luck. I know from experience it can be tricky sometimes.

 

[cgcw]

For those of us without passports, we still don't need them for this cruise, correct? The requirement was changed to 1/1/07......right????

Does anyone know for certain???

 

[Diana Lyn]

Also, how do you respond so quickly.
Is there a refresh button or something.

I don't think anybody answered this one...if you hit F5 your screen refreshes, not sure if this is only internet explorer, but most browsers have a refresh button. I also have an icon with two green turning arrows on it. That's refresh as well.

 

[Diana Lyn]

For those of us without passports, we still don't need them for this cruise, correct? The requirement was changed to 1/1/07......right????

Does anyone know for certain???

My CM went through the birth certificate raised seal schpiel with me, but she also told me tips weren't included. I was just interested in securing the room, the rest I plan to iron out soon!

Now I need to figure out booking my room today!

 

[WDWLVR]

For those of us without passports, we still don't need them for this cruise, correct? The requirement was changed to 1/1/07......right????

Does anyone know for certain???

From the DCL site:
New Passport Regulations from the U.S. Government
Proposed federal regulations would require all cruise travelers to the Caribbean (including The Bahamas) and Mexico to have valid passports when entering or returning to the United States on or after December 31, 2006. Therefore, guests who are booked on sailings on or after December 28, 2006 need to obtain a passport for each member of their family and provide us with the passport number at least 75 days prior to vacation commencement.

Benefits of Having a Passport
If you don't already have a passport, now is a good time to apply for one! There are many benefits to having a passport:

· No more juggling birth certificates and driver's licenses! A passport is a single document that provides photo identification, as well as proof of citizenship.

· The convenience of not traveling with original birth certificates. You'll no longer have to worry about losing or damaging these precious documents.

· Expedited entry into the United States for U.S. citizens and legitimate foreign visitors.


For Guests 16 years of age or older, a passport is valid for 10 years, and passports for Guests 15 years of age or younger are valid for 5 years -- so there's plenty of time to use your passport again and again when you sail with Disney Cruise Line®.

How to Get a Passport
Please visit the U.S. Department of State website or call the U.S. National Passport Information Center at 877-4USA-PPT for more information.

 

[Diana Lyn]

So what you are saying Mary is I don't need to spend $1 getting passports this year!

It's awfully quiet here, is everyone on the phone with MS?? I've been holding for about 10 minutes.

 

[MarkRG]

So what you are saying Mary is I don't need to spend $1 getting passports this year!

It's awfully quiet here, is everyone on the phone with MS?? I've been holding for about 10 minutes.

Maybe lots of people trying to get on the waitlist....

 

[WDWLVR]

Just got off the phone with Member Services. Booked Boardwalk for 2 nights before and 2 days after the cruise. Also booked a studio for 2 nights after our May cruise. We are now out of 2006 points


I did try to give the girl my e-mail address for the cruise but she said they weren't taking them yet. If anyone hears differently let me know.

Ok - to work I go to pay for all this.

 

[MickeyMagic]

Good Morning All!

Question ~ Won't they have activities planned for us prior to the cruise? Won't this be incentive enough to fly/drive down prior?

So how busy do you think MS will be this morning?

Now to score those accommodations for before and after the cruise! Oh yeah, and to let my boss know that I won't be there the last week of October!

Have A Disney Day Everybody!

janet

I called MS on Friday and booked our pre- and post- cruise DVC rooms. I figured it would be REALLY busy today! If I didn't get onto the cruise, I was going to go to WDW anyway, so I would have just called back to get the missing cruise dates. Luckily, we are on the cruise!!!!! We will be at VWL a few days before the cruise and BCV for a couple days after the cruise.

Oh yeah... the boss thing... When I request the time off, she always says, "You sure like to plan early, don't you." Obviously, she doesn't understand the countdown is 1/2 the fun!!!!

Which reminds me, WDWLVR - thank's for the countdown reminders. 46 weeks doesn't seem so bad.

Let the countdown begin!

 

[sanddune]

Hi! Had to take the van in. TV,DVD player and the power plug doesn't work .Have to get it fixed for the trip in 2 weeks.I'm not driving from MI To FL with 3 kids with out those items. Now off to the phones to get a hotel room before and after the member cruise.

 

[Scratch42]

Well Secured those Accommodations!

SSR prior to and BCV afterwards!

Now for that Boss thing...........

I think I will do what I did for my last August Cruise.........

Wait for the New Calendar to be put up and mark it in and wait for him to say something to me!

Side Note! ~ MS was phycic today! She asked whether I was phoning in to make my arrangements for before and after the cruise!

At least this morning it was only an 8 minute wait!LOL

Now to wait for SW to open up for October Airfares!

Better get back to work

janet

 

[cherylp3]

Ok everyone, get those pens ready...
From the BCV annual meeting
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=972860

The cruise has been so popular that DVC is considering two options to ensure everyone gets on:

1) Once you have gone on two cruises, you might become ineligible for a 3rd the following year. DVC may "ask" you to lay out to allow others to go, or

2) A lottery where you call to sign up, and receive a phone call back from MS in the order your name was drawn to pick your cabin, or

3) Have two member cruises next year.

No decision has been made yet, but I think JL was getting a little "chewed" by some people who don't like spending 5 hours on the phone on the day ressies are made.

 

[Duckieluckey]

I am not in this picture, but my van is.

Charles & Kathy (DuckieLuckey & HenniePenny) will be going for the third time!

My wife, son, daughter-in-law and I started dialing into Member Services at 9:00 AM on Saturday. My wife had the land line and the other three of us had cell phones. I got through at 10:10 AM with an eight minute wait. After hearing several recordings and music for about six minutes the phone cut off. I even had the phone charging while I was on hold. I started dialing again and got through about 11:00 AM with a 20 minute wait. After about 15 minutes I was dropped again. Fortunately my son got through on his cell phone at 10:50 AM with a 20 minute wait. I got two good cabins but not the ones that I wanted. It goes without saying, when my Cingular contract comes due for renewal, I will be switching providers.

 

[cgcw]

Ok everyone, get those pens ready...
From the BCV annual meeting
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=972860

The cruise has been so popular that DVC is considering two options to ensure everyone gets on:

1) Once you have gone on two cruises, you might become ineligible for a 3rd the following year. DVC may "ask" you to lay out to allow others to go, or

2) A lottery where you call to sign up, and receive a phone call back from MS in the order your name was drawn to pick your cabin, or

3) Have two member cruises next year.

No decision has been made yet, but I think JL was getting a little "chewed" by some people who don't like spending 5 hours on the phone on the day ressies are made.

Cheryl,

I for one would be a bit miffed. We bought in to DVC with the understanding and expectations that we will be able to decide how and when we travel. If they put a limit on the cruise, that to me is saying that they will make that decision for me.

If the cruise is that popular, DVC needs to look at adding another one in the same calendar year. I know that would exclude us as 1 cruise in a year is enough for us. There are many, many people who are not able or willing to take their children out of school for a cruise. The SSMC06 may be our last one as a family for exactly that same reason as Cameron will be in jr. high the following year. IMO, they need to look at other timeframes, more of a family timeframe.

I don't know. I know they are not going to want to anger those who have already sailed on member cruises. I'm sure it's a tough position to be in. I'm very thankful that we got onto this cruise again. But if we hadn't, it wouldn't have been the end of the world for us. It would have been a bummer, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't have had any ill feelings towards DVC because of it. I'm not sure I can say the same thing if these changes take place.

 

[Duckieluckey]

If the cruises are so popular, why not have a seven day and a four day cruise? They also need a cruise that does not conflict with school. Disney Cruise Line, there are people waiting in line to spend money with you!

 

[sanddune]

I wouldn't like these options at all.
Dvc makes money on these cruises.Why not charter both ships? Plus it would be a first for DCL haveing both ships sail together.Just a thought. Could you see the phones ringing then? We need more phone lines.